Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama-mystery series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired Sundays at 9 PM Eastern/8 PM Central, on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012. Executive producer Marc served as showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season included Bob Daily, George W. Perkins, John Pardee, Joey Murphy, David Grossman, and Larry Shaw. The main setting of the show was Wisteria Lane, a street in the fictional American town of '' in the fictional . The show followed the lives of a group of women as seen through the eyes of a dead neighbor who committed suicide in the very first episode. The storyline covers thirteen years of the women's lives over eight seasons, set between the years 2004-2008, and later 2013-2017 (the story arc included a 5 year time jump). They worked through domestic struggles and family life, while facing the secrets, crimes and mysteries hidden behind the doors of their - at the surface - beautiful and seemingly perfect suburban neighborhood. The show featured an ensemble cast, headed by Teri Hatcher as Susan Mayer, Felicity Huffman as Lynette Scavo, Marcia Cross as Bree Van de Kamp, and Eva Longoria as Gabrielle Solis. Brenda Strong narrated the show as the deceased Mary Alice Young, appearing sporadically in flashbacks or dream sequences. TV.com "Desperate Housewives Cast & Crew", TV.com, Retrieved on January 1, 2012 The series was well received by viewers and critics alike. The show is a multiple Primetime Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award winner. The series premiere drew 21.6 million viewers "ABC's 'Housewives' Starts Strong", ''The Boston Globe (New York). Associated Press. Retrieved on September 20, 2013 and the show's first season finale attracted over 30 million viewers. In 2007, it was reported to be the most popular show in its demographic worldwide, with an audience of approximately 120 million "Desperate Housewives On SABC3 Confirmed" TVSA, Published on April 3, 2007, Retrieved on September 20, 2013 and was also reported that the series is the third most watched TV show in a study of ratings in 20 countries. "CSI Show 'Most Popular in Word", BBC News. Published on July 31, 2006, Retrieved on September 20, 2013 In 2012, it remained as the most-watched comedy series internationally based on data from Eurodata TV Worldwide, which measured ratings across five continents, "Most-Watched TV Show In The World is 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'". The Huffington Post, Published on June 14, 2012, Retrieved on September 20, 2013 it has held this position since 2006. "Monte-Carlo TV Festival" 2006 Moreover, it was the third-highest revenue earning show for 2010, with US $2.74 million per half hour. ""American Idol" King of TV Advertising Revenue". Reuters. Published on March 17, 2011. Retrieved on September 20, 2013 The show placed #56 on Entertainment Weekly's "New TV Classics" list. "The New Classics: TV". Entertainment Weekly. Published on June 17, 2008. Retrieved October 26, 2013 Desperate Housewives was officially renewed by ABCon May 17, 2011 for an eighth season. Seidman, Robert (May 17, 2011)."ABC 2011-12 Primetime Schedule Announced". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved on September 20, 2013. The season premiere episode was broadcast on Sunday, September 25. Seidman, Robert (June 27, 2011). "ABC Announces Fall Series Premiere Dates: Late Starts For 'Once Upon a Tme', 'Man Up'". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved on September 20, 2013. The eighth season was the show's final season. Finke, Nikki; Andreeva, Nellie (August 5, 2011). "EXCLUSIVE: ABC Will End 'Desperate Housewives' In May 2012 After 8th Season". Deadline.com. Retrieved on September 20, 2013. Ausiello, Michael (August 7, 2011). "Desperate Housewives Boss On Cast's Reaction to Show Ending: 'There Was a Touch of Shock'". TV Line. Retrieved on September 20, 2013 The series concluded on May 13, 2012. By the end of the series, it had surpassed Charmed as the longest running hour-long television series featuring all female leads by two episodes. Housewives was also the most watched series finale of 2012. Production The idea for the series was conceived as Marc Cherry and his mother were watching a news report on Andrea Yates. Bill Carter, Desperate Networks. New York: Doubleday, 2006. p. 161-162 Prior to Desperate Housewives, Marc was best known for producing and writing episodes of Touchstone Television's hit comedy series The Golden Girls and its successor, The Golden Palace. In addition, he had created or co-created three sitcoms: The 5 Mrs. Buchanans, The Crew and Some of My Best Friends, none of which lasted longer than a year. Marc had difficulty in getting any television network interested in his new series; HBO, CBS, NBC, Fox, Showtime, and Lifetime all turned the show down. McDougall, Charles (January 5, 2005). "Desperately Seeking a Ratings Hit". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on September 20, 2013. Finally, two new executives at ABC, Lloyd Braun and Susan Lyne, chose to greenlight it,""ABC Exec Helps 'Desperate' Network Find Its Footing". The Augusta Chronicle. Associated Press. Published on February 22, 2006. Retrieved on October 26, 2013. reportedly after The OC on Fox premiered in 2003 and showed that a soap opera could succeed in prime time. Gopalan, Nisha (August 5, 2013). "Josh Schwartz On The OC, Casting George Lucas, and the Onslaught of Emo". Vulture. Retrieved September 20, 2013. Shortly thereafter, Disney had both Lloyd and Susan fired, following their approval of another drama series: Lost. Craig, Olga (August 14, 2005). "The Man Who Discovered 'Lost' - and Found Himself Out of a Job". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on September 20, 2013 The ABD executives were not initially satisfied with the name of the new show, suggesting Wisteria Lane and The Secret Lives of Housewives instead. "Desperate Housewives - The Complete First Season" DVD Bill Carter, Desperate Networks. New York: Doubleday, 2006. p. 203 However, on October 23, 2003, Desperate Housewives was announced by ABC, presented as a prime time soap opera created by Charles Pratt, Jr. of Melrose Place fame, and Marc Cherry, who declared the new show to be a mix of Knots Landing and American Beauty with a little bit of Twin Peaks."Development Update: October 23". The Futon Critic. Published on October 23, 2003. Retrieved on September 20, 2013 While Marc continued his work on the show, Charles was credited as executive producer for the pilot episode only, remainig linked to the show as a consulting producer during the first two seasons. On May 18, 2004, ABC announced the 2004-2005 lineup, with Desperate Housewives on Sunday at 9:00-10:00 PM ET slot,"2004 Broadcast Upfront Presentations: ABC, Part 1". The Futon Critic. Published on May 18, 2004. Retrieved on September 20, 2013. which it held all through the run of the show. After only three episodes were broadcast, on October 20, 2004, ABC announced that Desperate Housewives, along with Lost, had been picked up for a full season."ABC Orders Back Nine Of Two Top-10 Series: 'Desperate Housewives' and 'Lost' Get Full Season Pick-Ups". The Futon Critic, Published on October 20, 2004, Retrieved on September 20, 2013. A couple weeks later after Desperate Housewives premiered, the owners of NBC called to see who had passed on the series due to its ratings success. Desperate Housewives was produced by creator Marc Cherry (Cherry Productions), Austin Bagley and, since 2007, ABC Studios. From 2004 to 2007, Desperate Housewives was produced in association with Touchstone Television. Production Crew Marc, Tom Spezialy and Michael Edlestein served as executive producers for the first two seasons on the show. Tom, who also served as a staff writer, left his previous position as writer and executive producer for Dead Like Me to join the crew on Desperate Housewives. He also worked as writer and co-executive producer on several shows, among them Ed, Jack and Jill, and Parker Lewis Can't Lose, while Michael has been the executive producer of Threat Matrix and Hope & Faith. Second season conflicts arose among the executive producers. Subsequent to this, Michael left the show mid-season, and by the season's end, so did Tom. Keck, William (May 19, 2006). "Wisteria Lane's New Landscape". USA Today. Retrieved on September 20, 2013. For the third year, Marc was joined by award-winning writer and producer Joe Keenan - of Frasier fame - and television movie producer George W. Perkins. who had been a crew member of Desperate Housewives since the show's conception. Although receiving praise for his work on the show, Joe chose to leave Desperate Housewives after one season to pursue other projects. Schneider, Michael; Adalian, Josef (March 29, 2007). "Keenan Not 'Desperate' Any More". Variety. Retrieved on September 20, 2013 Replacing him as executive producer for the fourth season of the show was Bob Daily, who had joined the crew as a writer and co-executive during the third season. Bob's previous work include writing for the animated series Rugrats, as for Frasier. Also joining Marc, George and Bob for the fourth season were John Pardee and Joey Murphy, who had been with the series since the beginning."Development Update: Week of June 11-15". The Futon Critic. Published on June 15, 2007. Retrieved on September 20, 2013. Both has also worked on Marc's previous show The Crew in 1995, as well as on the sitcom Cybill. Filming Desperate Housewives was filmed on Panavision 35 mm cameras (except for the final season, which was shot digitally on the Arri Alexa)."Arri Alexa Meets Desperate Housewives". Arri Group. Retrieved on September 20, 2013. It was broadcast in standard and 16:9 widescreen high definition, though it was framed for the 4:3 aspect ratio Feld, Rob; Oppenheimer, Jean; Stasukevich, Ian (March 2008). "Tantalizing Television". American Cinematography 89 (3). until the final season. The set for Wisteria Lane, consisting mainly of facades but also of some proper houses, was located on the Universal Studios Hollywood back lot. It was referred to by film crews as Colonial Street, and has been used for several motion pictures and television shows since the mid-1940s."Colonial Street - History". The StudioTour.com Universal Studios Hollywood. Retrieved on October 26, 2013. Notable productions that were filmed her include: So Goes My Love, Leave it to Beaver, The 'Burbs, Providence, Deep Impact, Bedtime for Bonzo, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Gremlins, The Munsters, Psycho, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer."Colonial Street - History". The Studio Tour.com. Universal Studios Hollywood. Retrieved on October 26, 2013. For the second season of Depserate Housewives, the street went through some heavy changes. Among the most noticeable of these changes was the removal of a church facade and a mansion in order to make room for Edie's house and a park."Colonial Street - Church". The Studio Tour.com. Universal Studios Hollywood. Retrieved on October 26, 2013."Colonial Street - Colonial Mansion". The Studio Tour.com. Universal Studios Hollywood. Retrieved on October 26, 2013. interior sets were built on sound stages at universal Studios Hollywood, some of which were duplicated in some form on the Wisteria Lane back lot for filming when conditions required it. R. Craig Wolf (March 26, 2013). "Scene Design and Stage Lighting". Cengage Learning. pp.76-"ESPN". "978-1-111-34443-6". Retrieved on July 11, 2013. Filming for the series ended on April 26, 2012. Opening Seqeuence The initial idea for the show opening sequence was Marc's. After asking sixteen companies to come up with suggestions for how best to realize it, the producers finally hired Hollywood-based yU+co to provide the final version."yU+co Opens ABC's Desperate Housewives". Digital Producer. Published on November 12, 2004. Retrieved on October 10, 2013. According to the yU+co's official website, the idea behind the sequence is, "to evoke the show's quirky spirit and playful flouting of women's traditional role in society.""Desperate Housewives". yU+co. Retrieved on October 10, 2013. The images featured are taken from eight pieces fo art, portraying domesticity and male-female relations through the ages. Phelan, Joseph (May 2005). "Missing the Picture: Desperate Housewives Do Art History". ArtCyclopedia. Retrieved on September 20, 2013. The music for the opening is composed by Danny Elfman, and has been awarded both a Primetime Emmy Award and the BMI TV Music Award."BMI Film & Television Awards Tout Composers Of Year's Top Film, Television, & Cable Music". BMI. Published on May 21, 2009. Retrieved on September 20, 2013. In 2005, it was included on the album Music from and inspired by Desperate Housewives. When an episode runs long, only the first sequence (the falling apple) is kept. From the episode "Now You Know" onwards, only the main chorus of the theme is heard, which is the falling apple scene, and the photgraph of the four lead actresses, crediting Marc Cherry as creator. Music In addition to the theme composed by Danny Elfman, the series underscore music, composed by Steve Jablonsky since the second episode of the first season, defines the overall sound of the show by creating a musical counterpoint to the writing style The score is electronic-based, but every scoring session incorporates a live string ensemble. Steve incorporates recurring themes for events and characters into the score."Desperate Housewives" Ah, But Underneath". (2004). Hollywood Records produced the first soundtrack album, Music from and Inspired by Desperate Housewives distributed by Universal Records. Several of those songs have been used in subsequent seasons. Housewive's unique style combined with the heavy dialogue and a quick-fire writing style limits the amount of popular music used within the series. The series' music supervisor, David Sibley, works closely with the producers to integrate these musical needs into the show. In addition to featured performances by central char0ters such as Susan Mayer sining along with Rose Royce's "Car Later Seasons Final Season Series Synopses and Episodes Main Cast Casting US Ratings Premiere Year Later Years Awards/Nominations Foreign Productions/Translations DVD Releases Games Soudtrack/Literature Fashion Dolls Another Desperate Housewife Commercials Ask Desperate Housewives Social Media References